


It's About You

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Fluff, I just really wanted to write these two idk, M/M, Mewni is literally great, Svtfoe, all i write is flangst, by this i mean svtfoe, demon ex boyfriend tom - Freeform, flangst, i binge watched this and then wrote it, i stole the 'everyone loves who they loves on Mewni' thing from another fic oops, idr which one but let me know if you know, really really unbetaed, set after bon bon, the boys talk about FEELINGS and RELATIONSHIPS, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:39:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9296597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: Marco just needs a break. Hanging out with Tom usually helps him feel less stressed, for whatever reason. This time.. maybe not so much?





	

**Author's Note:**

> The summary is the worst summary I've ever written and I Apologise™ for it. 
> 
> Also this fic is entirely my girlfriend's fault.

"Hey, Marco. Been wondering when you were gonna come hang out again."

Tom had greeted him without even turning around, and Marco rolled his eyes. Stupid show-offy demon. They'd hung out a few more times after the whole Mackie Hand thing, and then Star's book had gotten lost and Marco... Well, he hadn't done much of anything except dimension-hopping with Star after that.

"I'm sure you know what's been going on," Marco responded, sitting down lightly in the chair Tom had conjured with one hand beside his own. Tom still didn't bother to look up from his controller, but he nodded, a grimace taking over his features momentarily.

"Yeah, I heard about the book, man. I've had demons on it, too, but so far..." He shrugged. "Nothing's come up. It doesn't help that most of my demons are _incompetent fools who can't do their jobs right_ , but y'know." Tom's eyes blazed, fiery and angry, for a moment as his voice raised. At this point, Marco didn't even flinch. He merely stood and fetched Marshmallow from where she was curled up on Tom's bed and held the bunny out for him.

Tom didn't take the offered help, though. Instead, he raised a hand. "No, I'm good. I'm cool." A pause; he paused the game and finally looked up at Marco properly. "Do you even own any other clothes, dude?"

"We are so not having this conversation." Marco rolled his eyes and let Marshmallow curl up in his lap, scratching absently behind her ears. "You always wear the same thing, too, you know."

"Yeah, but I'm a demon prince," Tom pointed out fairly, his three-eyed gaze roaming smoothly over Marco's person. The first time they'd met, he'd found it disconcerting, but by now, he'd managed to get over it. After all, with Star, he'd seen so much worse. "You're a tiny mortal who wears a hoodie to Hell."

Marco opened his mouth to argue, he really did. He put a finger up in the air and everything! But... Tom did have a point, as much as it pained him to admit it, even to himself. His hoodie made him feel safer. Not that being safe mattered! Because he was a misunderstood bad boy, and bad boys didn't care about safety!

Oh, who was he kidding?

Meanwhile, Tom was chuckling. He reached over and plucked Marshmallow out of Marco's lap; she snuggled contently into his arms. "Don't look so put out, Marco. You've got your hoodie, I've got my bunny. We're even." And if that wasn't one of the strangest things Marco had heard since Jackie had admitted that she actually had a boyfriend living in France --he still blamed Star for that; somehow, he had a gut feeling it was her fault-- he was prepared to eat said hoodie, right then and there.

Hearing Tom make fun of himself was... well, incredibly bizarre. The kid had a fuse about as long as Marshmallow could throw him-- Which was to say, he didn't really have one at all. He was always two seconds away from blowing up, it seemed, but... Marco had to admit, as they'd spent more time together, he'd noticed a marked difference since that first meeting.

Tom's thoughts had seemed to run on a similar path... Similar enough, anyways. "So, what ever happened with the Naysaya?" he asked, and Marco felt his cheeks redden. He huffed out a breath, which only prompted Tom to grin. "Ooh, not so good?"

"I mean, she actually still agreed to go out with me, so that part wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be," he admitted, and Tom's eyebrows --two for three eyes, Marco noted offhandedly, not for the first time-- rose.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." He glanced at Tom and then made a face at him. "Oh, don't look so surprised. I can get a date. I could get loads of dates, if I wanted to."

"Oh, I bet."

Marco looked at Tom sharply after he'd spoken, because there had been something in his statement there... Jealousy? It wasn't anger, or not an anger that he'd heard from him before. But his features betrayed nothing of the emotion, so Marco set it aside for the moment and continued.

"...Yeah. Anyways, we went to the movies and then she asked me to a dance, which we sorta ditched together. Long story. She taught me how to skateboard and --yeah, this is all true, don't give me that look, Tom-- then she actually kissed me. I swear, it was perfect. And then the Star thing happened --yeah! Same night! Pretty wild, huh-- and Jackie and I hadn't spent any time together after that because, y'know, dimension-hopping. And then she told me she had a boyfriend. That wasn't me. Pretty great first relationship, as they tend to go." Sarcasm dripped heavily from his final statement as he let his head drop back against the chair he'd claimed. "Prett-tty greaat."

He hadn't meant to say all that, but... Dang, it felt really good to have it all out in the open. He loved Star, he really, really did, but... she wasn't exactly Dr. Marco, PhD. Tom wasn't either, of course, but he hadn't interrupted him every five seconds with a spell or an exclamation about how they could fix things.

"That... sucks, man. I mean, yeah, I know I cursed you and all, but that was when I thought you and Star were... Yeah." Tom actually looked remorseful, all three eyes trained rather sadly down towards the floor. "Did Star ever tell you what happened? Y'know, between us?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Yeah. I didn't think so. She doesn't like to talk about stuff. She's too busy with... with..."

"Laser puppies?" Marco supplied wryly, and Tom let out a surprised laugh.

"Yeah. Stuff like that. It's a part of the reason we didn't work out. Not a big part, but... no, probably a big part." Tom heaved a big sigh, and while a part of Marco wanted to plug his ears --after all, this was Star they were talking about. His best friend. This was weird, right?-- there was a larger part of him that got it. After all, he wasn't Dr. Marco PhD for nothing. Plus, he'd just gotten his own baggage off his chest and unloaded it on Tom... It was really only fair that the favour was returned.

Meanwhile, Tom was still talking. "She was always this... this radiant beam of light. And I wanted that. Have you noticed how _dark_ it is down here? Firelight is waaaaay different than actual sunlight. So I courted her and everything. Her parents thought it was 'cute'." He said it like it was a dirty word, let it drop from his lips like a disease. "Whatever. And then we dated, and she was always so out there. I thought it was a good thing, at first. But then we were never on the same page, and she would be off doing her own thing, and I'd ask her things and she would ignore me, and I'd just get so angry. And then she'd get upset because I was angry and tell me that she couldn't do it anymore. She forgave me a few times, but... then she stopped. I wanted her back, so badly, but I don't even know if it was because I actually wanted her, or because I knew I couldn't have her." He crossed his arms, Marshmallow having plopped into his lap sometime during his story. "Honestly, I still don't know which it was."

Something about the inflection there was off. Marco couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew it was there. "Was?"

Tom glanced up at him, as though he hadn't expected Marco to latch onto that little detail. His pupils were fire for just a second, although the flames were muted, closer to yellow than they usually were. Interesting.

"Yeah. Was. I don't want her anymore. Not like that. I'd still like to be a part of her life, as a friend. I don't know if she'd ever trust me to do that, but it would be nice. But... I don't want to force a relationship that was never meant to be, just to make myself happy less than half the time."

A small smile made its way onto Marco's face, and he realised that --in a weird, weird sort of way-- he was proud of Tom. It took a lot to be able to say as much. If he were truly honest with himself, there was probably a note of truth that would ring out in his own situation with Jackie. He didn't know if he could be that honest with himself, yet, but...

"That's really cool of you, Tom." He lightly slung an arm over Tom's shoulder, and felt the demon tense and then relax again in the span of about three seconds. Huh. "I think you and Star could be friends, if she gets enough time to think about it. I mean, I like the new you. Why shouldn't she?" Besides the fact that Star was literally one of the most stubborn beings he'd ever met. (That was saying something, because he knew _Ludo_!)

But Tom didn't respond like Marco thought he would, which was... a little worrying, actually. Marco glanced over at him to find--

Was that a blush?

It was.

Marco... really didn't know what to do with that information. Talking about Star had done absolutely nothing for him, that much had been clear. But as soon as he'd touched him, complimented him... Tom's face was _glowing_ red. His eyes were shut tightly, as though he was concentrating on something, and his skin... Yeah, okay, his skin was warmer to the touch than normal, but it wasn't _hot_. Something was going on.

"...Tom--?" Marco began, but Tom shook his head once in a sharp, jerky movement.

"Just... you're fine. Everything's fine, Marco." Tom's voice was forced. "I'm just... I'm--"

Tom didn't usually get tongue-tied. The only time he struggled was when he was angry, but there was no anger here. Marco couldn't see a lick of it anywhere near him, and there was no more fire than normal, which was usually a good sign. Still, Marco was more than prepared to get to the bottom of this.

"Tom, did I say something wrong? Is it about Star?"

Tom made a strange noise, somewhere between a groan and a whine. "No. This is most definitely not about Star."

"Then what--?" Marco began again, slowly attempting to pull his arm back from where it was draped along Tom's shoulders.

In an instant, Tom had turned, interrupting him in both words and the process of slowly moving his arm away. His hands were hot, almost painfully so, as they gripped his upper arms. "It's about _you_." His eyes were dangerous, filled another fire he hadn't seen before. This one was white-hot, blue tinging the edges.

Marshmallow gave a squeak from where she had been unceremoniously dumped back onto Marco's lap, and it seemed to cause Tom to pause. His grip loosened slightly, and then he blinked several times and tore himself away.

"Shit, Marco, I'm so sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen." Tom wasn't looking at him, pacing the floor instead, his eyes darting everywhere but. "I don't even know why... I can't figure it out it doesn't make any sense--"

Marco cut out the stream-of-consciousness for a second, ignoring Tom entirely. He had... absolutely no idea what had just happened. 'It's about _you_.' It had only lasted a moment, but he could still feel the heat from Tom's touch where his hands had been. He was probably lucky his hoodie was still intact. They had been talking about feelings, about Star, about relationships. And then Tom had gotten all... blush-y. Was that a word? No, probably not. Oh well. Tom had gotten blush-y, and then... 'It's about _you_.'

Was that...? Did that...?

Oh, man.

Tom was no longer chasing Star. That part was good. Great! It was great! But now, he had a thing for him? First of all... actually, he didn't even know where to begin. Tom was a demon. Duh. Did demons do sexuality? Was that just a human thing? Star had mentioned once that on Mewni, everyone loved who they loved and that was that. After that particular conversation, Marco had tried a whole lot harder to stop overthinking thoughts that came into his head, and it had seemed to work. So far, at least.

He tuned back in to Tom's distressed pacing, which hadn't changed much since he'd tuned out. Apparently, Tom had taken his nonresponse as anger.

Marco finally shook his head, standing gingerly from the chair. "Tom. Chill out." He paused, snorted. "I mean, as much as you can." He was actually feeling kinda good, despite not knowing what he was going to do next. "Get it? Fire demon? Chill out?"

Tom's eyes were practically bugging themselves out of his skull, and Marco had to bite his lip to keep himself from giggling. Giggling! So much for misunderstood bad boy. "Look. Whatever's going on, it's fine. You don't have to worry about me... I don't know, being judgemental? Whatever you're freaking out about is unnecessary. See?" He pointed to his face. "Not mad."

Tom stared at him for a good thirty seconds, long enough for Marco to cross the room and deposit Marshmallow safely back on Tom's bed. And then...

"I think... I've got a thing. For you. Like... a crush. On you. But it's... different than what I felt. For Star. And I don't really know why."

Marco tried to keep his face as expressionless as he could manage. "How is it different?"

Tom looked away from him again, gaze trained firmly on Marshmallow instead. "It's-- I like talking to you. We have similar interests, and you're interesting because of that. I feel... calmer, when you're around. That's weird. Different. It wasn't always like that, but you kept coming back. Most people don't willingly spend time with me. Not even Star. And..." The red glow was back. "Your hair."

"...My hair?"

Tom kicked at the floor. "It looks soft, okay? I told you, I don't know. I don't get it."

Marco slowly took a seat on the bed, scooted Marshmallow over, and patted the space next to him. "I don't know if I get it either," he stated slowly. "But I think I'm willing to try? We could... talk."

Tom was floating now, about a foot off the ground, as if standing properly wasn't something he could manage. By the look on his face, he hadn't expected anything to go the way it had already. "Yeah... Okay. We can talk. That's... a good plan."

He floated towards Marco, who shifted a little more to the side to make room for him. The tension in the air was palpable, and jeez, he couldn't stand it.

"So... disc three, or disc five?" Marco asked, after a near minute of awkward silence.

Tom blinked. "What?"

"Love Sentence. Which disc do you like more?"

It took a second, but a slow smile began to stretch over Tom's face. "Three, duh."

Marco grinned back. They would be alright. It might take a lot of stumbling, but he was good at that. "I bet you I can sing the first song faster than you can."

Tom finally managed to grin back. "You're on."

And if they held hands while they were singing along to the music Tom began to play... Well, they were figuring it out.

**Author's Note:**

> ...yeah. Comments/kudos are love, kiddos!
> 
> EDIT: I might add more to this if I get the inspiration to, but we'll see. Hm....


End file.
